Photodegradation of para-nitrophenol catalyzed by Fe₂O₃/FeS nanocomposite

Abstract

The Fe₂O₃/FeS nanocomposite is prepared in a colloidal solution and precipitation method. Characterization of Fe₂O₃/FeS nanocomposite is studied by X-ray diffraction, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The TEM image shows the particles size less than 15 nm for nanocomposite. The band-gap energy of prepared nanocomposite is obtained 2.0 eV and thus the nanocomposite is active in visible region of radiation. The pollutant of para-nitrophenol (PNP) is degraded more than 98% at presence of Fe₂O₃/FeS nanocomposite (1.0 g/L) at time 180 min. The photocatalytic activity of nanocomposite is compared to Fe₂O₃ and FeS nanoparticles. The pseudo-first-order rate constant of photodegradation reaction of PNP (10 mg/L) is obtained 20.0×10^-3, 16.0×10^-3 and 6.5×10^-3 min^-1 at presence Fe₂O₃/FeS, FeS and Fe₂O₃/, respectively. The less band-gap energy versus Fe₂O₃ and more reusability versus FeS are the advantages of proposed photocatalyst.

Keywords:

• Nanocomposite
• Para-nitrophenol
• Photodegradation
• Photocatalyst